I wanted to depict rear area US soldiers, and Masterbox's Europe 1945 figure set has them. But I haven't found any depictions of MP's for rear areas which I need. Osprey's book on US Army in northeast Europe does describe service uniforms for US soldiers in rear areas, and I remember reading Bill Mauldin's description of how US Army soldiers is rear areas had to wear ties and all rank insignia or get punished, despite the threat of enemy snipers.

Mini Art make these two sets:
https://miniart-models.com/products/35047/#lg=1&slide=0
https://miniart-models.com/products/35085/#lg=1&slide=0
Admittedly they might need some clean-up (mold seam and possible flash), but do build up into quite nice figures.

Thanks for the links. But I wondered more specifically how MP's were supposed to dress, e. g. did they always have to wear the jackets, helmets, etc.?

Yes, this was made in the 1960's, but I was thinking along the lines of this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxEXJ6G-0j4&t=36s

Wrong link perhaps?

There are two angry cartoon MP's at the end of the video clip


Some real MP´s in Britain or France in 1944

No, they did not; it depended on their assignment, and the area in which they were posted...

The photo that Robin so kindly posted for you above, shows the MPs in Class A Uniform, apparently in some kind of a "Headquarters" assignment, or they could be scheduled for a "Traffic" assignment in some heavily-populated civilian area, such as downtown London for example, where these MPs HAD to be not only "presentable", but as being actual representatives of the US Army in front of the British populace. Wool Serge OD Service Coats and Trousers, along with OD Service Shirts and leather Service Shoes in Russet Brown were specified, along with WHITE M1938 Leggings. The Khaki Mohair NECKTIES were required to be worn at all times, period... Once again, depending on the situation or the assignment, the billed OD Service Cap, OR the OD Garrison Cap were required headgear. In Tropical or Summer climes, the Khaki Cotton Twill Summer Uniform was worn. Helmets were required for Traffic Control, Base Guard or Police Duties...

Tamiya made a figure set years ago which included a Harley Davidson. The standing figure wears the Class A uniform. The kit number was 35084x

Oh crap! I didn't finish watching the clip.

MP's on the Red Ball Express :







H.P.

Curious as to how you think there would be snipers back in those areas?
J

A man with a rifle couldn't easily sneak in?

Mini Art makes a Harley with MP in dress garb. Parade duty? Anybody happen to know what unit had MP/ occupation duty in Mannheim around May / June 45 ..... pre Constabulary?

Because of the the rapid collapse of German resistance during Operation Cobra, and the equally rapid US advance, many German soldiers were bypassed by US forces. Most surrendered, but some became de facto snipers, taking potshots at supply columns and solitary jeeps. Truck drivers on the Red Ball Express got shot at quite regularly.

Plus there was the threat, whether real or not, of the so-called "Werewolves" post-surrender.

Yes but....no.
The typical German soldier fought until it didn't make sense to fight any more,or the leadership was illuminated. They then gave up and were happy to do so.
This was not the German army of 1939 by any means.
J

This may be the case for a short amount of time because of lack of commo. In other words,the "snipers" just didn't know they were now behind the lines.
Plus,the GIs and the Tommies all called almost any German rifle fire as coming from "snipers". What the fire almost always was,was coming from the very very thin line of German Infantry,just regular rifleman trying to keep defensive fires going. But the grunts called this "sniper' fire.Sort of like most GIs called any tank a "Tiger" and all German arty fire an "88".
The fanatical last ditch soldier was mostly a construct of Hollywood.

There were less than a dozen so called "werewolf" arrests made after the war. This was another allied boogeyman along with the "National Redoubt".
There was no gauntlet of snipers to be run behind the lines,sorry.
It makes a nice story to tell the folks back home buttttt....nah.
J

"Werewolves", "Redoubts"... HA! A few "snipers" here and there; maybe... Sometimes, these "snipers" were merely senile old "NAZI-diehard" men or young pubescent boys, who didn't know any better.

You know, my Mom, Oma, ("Grandma", in German), and I were at the kitchen table, having a cup of coffee and some REAL German Christmas pastries which they had baked for the Holidays. Conversation had drifted to the end of the War in Germany, somehow. Mom and Oma told me that they witnessed the German Army units (HEER) passing through the outskirts of their town, Schwenningen, just ahead of Allied Artillery which was booming in the distance.

NO SS were to be seen at all. Before the HEER Troops passed through, there had been A LOT of Allied, mostly US, air activity for days- They saw the US Stars on the planes' Wings- This signaled the NAZI "big fish" of the local Party Hierarchy to "skedaddle". The local Gestapo, Allegemeine SS, WAFFEN SS and other "party-functionaries" had cut and run even sooner, probably headed for Augsburg, Muenchen, or Nuernberg, ("Munich" and "Nuremberg", in English), where they could continue their drunken orgies with the local whores and prostitutes. "Sie ha'm abg'haut", in the local dialect, which we spoke at home. ("Sie haben ab gehaut", in the proper "High" German). They told me that here was a nearby "elite" SS equestrian unit that had been quartered nearby, and THEY had disappeared, as well...

Suddenly, the Allied Artillery stopped. Dead quiet... Very shortly, the first "Amis" came roaring through town in their armed Jeeps. They didn't stop at all. Recon..? Then, even sooner, came the big olive-colored US Army trucks, full of BIG laughing and shouting American "boys". Yes, these were very young Americans- The countryside rumbled and the very ground trembled with American heavy vehicle activity. Armor..? Probably... In any case Mom, Oma and the neighbors were in awe of the huge numbers of huge "6-by" trucks and Jeeps that the Americans seemed to have...

WHAT was in store for the German small-town civilians? The neighborhood was a-buzz with rumors and conjecturing. "What were these big Amis going to do with us..?"

"Fraeulein! Fraeulein!" (sorry, no "umlauts")

Oma rushed my Mom down into their "Keller" (cellar), fearing the very worst. For months they had heard NAZI propaganda telling them that the Americans were "beasts", no better than the "Soviet mongoloids of the East".

Mom was only a girl, 18 years of age at the time, and employed as a Kindergarten "teacher". She was a real "looker", too. Cute face, with a trim but gorgeous body. She was a gymnast while still at school. Then again, at that point during the War, all of the "fattening" German goodies and confections were in VERY short supply, even though Oma had a part-interest in a tiny creamery where she worked. Oma was a very fine-looking woman at the age of 46, as well... Naturally, they were VERY apprehensive of how these strange Americans were going to behave...

American food and supply trucks arrived next, along with Field Kitchen Trucks, although Mom and Oma didn't realize what these were until later that day. And then, more Jeeps full of Officers, who behaved with quite a bit more "reserve" than the young, exuberant GIs did.

Then came Jeeps full of... MPs!!! OH, NO!!!

Mom had sneaked-up from the cellar, as curious as a young kitten could be. A young, strapping GI had spotted her almost immediately after dismounting from the back of one of the trucks. In hand, you guessed it- A BIG, FAT Hershey Bar, NOTHING like the thin, tiny things that command a price of over a freaking DOLLAR, today...

"HEY, YOU!!! GERRAWAY FROM DAT DAME!!!"

MPs, remember..?

"But GEE, I wuz only gonna..."

"GODDAMMIT!!! GERRAWAY FROM DAT DAME, I SAID!!!"

The young GI slunk away from Oma's front yard fence like a half-starved, yellow cur of a dog... MPs...

Yes, the US ARMY HAD ARRIVED, in no uncertain terms. As it turned out the young GIs gradually DID get to "fraternize" with the local German inhabitants- LOTS of K-Rations were distributed, along with REAL coffee, none of that "erzatz-Scheisse" that seemed to be made out of wood-shavings. German bread at the end of the War WAS made with sawdust being one of its' main ingredients, no lie...

The Americans seemed to have unlimited supplies of food, Army Blankets, Hershey Bars, and LORD-HAVE-MERCY, fresh-baked American WHITE BREAD, which was NOTHING like the CRAP in plastic bags that we have today. The Field Kitchens not only did a rush business with the ever-hungry young GIs, but many of the local Germans also took advantage of the Americans' largesse. The KIDS, especially.

"SCHOCKOLADE!!! SCHOCKOLADE!!! CHUNG-GAM!!! CHUNG-GAM!!!" (Chewing Gum), begged the little German kids. Invariably, the soft-hearted young GIs obliged them. There was "BENZINE" to be had!!! (what WE called "Gas", and the British called "Petrol")

The FOOD... There was REAL MEAT in those little Olive Drab cans, REAL VEGETABLES. American BUTTER... But there were still some lean times, ahead- NAZIs were being rooted out of the woodwork everywhere, and being brought to trial at "Nuremberg". Came the Allied crackdown. MPs everywhere. And DPs- "Displaced Persons", many of them the victims of NAZI tyranny, and former Polish, Czech, some Russian, French and other nations' soldiers who had been POWs of the Germans. And MORE MPs. Stricter control, and in some places martial law was in force. But still, there was "fraternization", and an "under-ground TRADE" came into being. THIS demanded STILL more MPs. And then, there was the "Black Market". Foodstuffs and Army Blankets were traded for diamonds and other valuables. There were a few arrests but not many, and sentences were comparatively light for German law-breakers, but not so much for the GIs that had been caught by guess who?

The ubiquitous MPs in their White Helmets and Olive Drab Jeeps, of course...

Couldn't have put it any better buddy!
J

THANKS, Jerry!